Barcelona take on Real Sociedad hoping to recover from an astronomical slip in form, which is threatening to end the season on a premature note.

The 2-0 loss against Malaga came about in surprising circumstances. Just when it seemed that Barcelona would be able to return to winning ways with the Champions League, the team suffered a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Juventus. This quarter-final first leg result places the club at a serious disadvantage in terms of being able to reach thesemifinals. Last season, the club made an exit at a similar stage.

The game against Real Sociedad will be extremely tough for the Catalan club, who will be without Neymar for the game. The Brazilian striker is suspended for the match and he will be huge miss even though he has only scored nine league goals this season.

One of the reasons for Neymar to be an important player in the last few months is that he has been creating plenty of problems for the opposition. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi have been able to take advantage of the space created by Neymar. Sociedad will be arriving on a high after having brought an end to a four-game winless run with the victory over Sporting Gijon.

The absence of Neymar is such a major blow that Barcelona can be backed to score under 2.5 goals at a significant price. Even though Barcelona are more than well-equipped to get a win, it may not be the three or four goals fans have regularly witnessed at the Camp Nou. Barcelona to score under 2.5 goals is being offered at around 1/1. Real Sociedad may have been on a poor run of form, but they have scored two goals in the recent visit to the ground. Backing both teams to score is also available at an excellent price of 1/1.